This Elite Marathon Runner Was Determined to Finish Race No Matter What

Hyvon Ngetich turned metaphor into reality when she literally crawled across the finish line at the Austin Marathon on Sunday.

The Kenyan runner was in the lead among the elite women after 23 miles, according to local CBS affiliate KEYE-TV, when she collapsed between there and the finish line. Still, Ngetich persevered, crawling on her hands and knees to cross the finish line. She still finished in third place in spite of her setback.

The race director, John Conley, was apparently so impressed with this triumph of will that he decided to increase her prize money to what she would have won if she came in second place. “You ran the bravest race and crawled the bravest crawl I have ever seen in my life,” he said. “You have earned much honor.”

[KEYE-TV]